Albatrosses in the soup
The Conservation Department has sadly reported today (offline) that there has been a significant drop in the number of nesting pairs of Northern Royal Albatrosses at the Taiaroa Head colony near Dunedin.
The birds breed every two years and Department of Conservation rangers had expected 25 pairs during this year’s breeding season, but five pairs have failed to turn up and a further three have not laid.
The Northern Royal Albatross is one of the world’s biggest birds, but sadly its future looks grim. According to Forest and Bird the world population of these magnificent birds is only about 13,000 - about 1000 off being re-classified as ‘critically endangered”.
The finger of blame for the fragile state of the species has to be pointed at the fishing industry. Seabird bycatch kills thousands of birds every year - not to mention dolphins, sea lions, seals and numerous other animals.
Earlier this year the Government received much applause from environmental groups, including the Greens, when it announced it was introducing a strategy to manage the environmental effects of fishing.
However, the cogs of Government and of the fishing industry are moving at their usual slow pace - so far only the domestic tuna fleet is being required to use the much safer tori lines - which discourage birds from trying to eat bait on fishing lines.
While the Japanese charter fleets have been forced implement strict strategies to stop the seabird slaughter - 100 percent coverage by independent observers, use of tori lines, night setting of lines, better offal management and avoiding high bycatch areas, our domestic fleets are lagging behind.
According to a 2002 WWF report those strategies have made a dramatic difference.
Unless the Government and the domestic fishing industry gets on with it and does what they have promised, we will continue to see the numbers of these beautiful birds continue to decline.
December 16th, 2005 at 12:25 pm
A perfect example of how Kiwis think we are green but really aren’t. Sad state of affairs when the Japanese fishing fleet is ahead of us on this one.
December 16th, 2005 at 3:28 pm
A revolting creature much given to attacking the still living ship wrecked floating helplessly in the water- read any account of the viciousness of these birds from 19th century book and you’ll never look at an Albatross as a noble bird again…
December 16th, 2005 at 3:52 pm
They sound almost as vicious as Homo sapiens in their treatment of other sentient species! They certainly deserve to go extinct, and while we are at it let’s declare open season on humans.
December 16th, 2005 at 5:24 pm
Indeed, I’ve long believed that cannibalism is the next logical step on from veganism
December 16th, 2005 at 7:26 pm
Kitchener, you reminded me of a wonderful Terry Pratchett quote where he refers to cannibalism:
“The trouble isn’t being a vegetarian by day, it’s avoiding becoming a humanitarian at night”
;D
December 16th, 2005 at 9:16 pm
Sad state of affairs when the Japanese fishing fleet is ahead of us on this one.
Hardly a surprising state of affairs… with the notable exception of whaling (a deeply cultural issue), I expect you’ll find that the Japanese are ahead of New Zealanders in just about every environmental issue you could name.
They probably still have a bad rep from the 70s, where hyperpollution, mercury poisoning, smog etc were rampant… but these days, they have clean air, clean water, good recycling and waste management, they are the only industrialised nation which has seriously and deliberately reduced CO2 emissions, etc…
without being all starry-eyed, there is an awful lot we can learn from the Japanese. On the opposite end of the scale from NZ : because of high population density and industrialization, they are obliged to take the environment seriously. In NZ, we implicitly expect the environment to just suck it up.
December 16th, 2005 at 9:19 pm
kitchener..that was just a one-liner..?..if not..could you elucidate…?..ta..
phil(whoar
December 16th, 2005 at 9:32 pm
um….i don’t want to get too po-faced about it…..but if you haven’t eaten animals for a couple of decades….it is like watching a form of cannibalism…watching people rip into meat….
at times..it can border on the surreal..especially when they are revelling in it..with appropriate grunts..moans..and sounds of tearing flesh..licking of fingers etc…
i find it hard not to stare….
phil(whoar.co.nz)
December 17th, 2005 at 9:45 am
back to the albatross
did you know that the save the albatross campaign has been adopted by the volvo ocean race?
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/
points to
http://www.savethealbatross.net/
apparantly the “race is on”.
December 17th, 2005 at 10:37 am
TomS - Are you arguing for a purely aesthetic view of conservation? Only the nice cuddly (and tasty) animals should be spared from extinction? Or do you think that birds and animals should exhibit human morality? I am not sure which ridiculous position you are taking…
December 17th, 2005 at 11:29 pm
them bird delicious
December 18th, 2005 at 9:45 pm
I found it interesting that on the TV news (3 I think) the story was heralded as “Albatross Colony has a breeding problem”, when the actual problem is the albatrosses being killed at sea.